Big society or broken society?: Food banks in the UK

Abstract

This article discusses the recent increase in food poverty in the UK, the reasons for this and some of the ways in which it is being addressed by the voluntary or third sector, with a particular focus on food banks. Through use of a number of anthropological concepts such as reciprocity and gifting, shame and stigma, some of the complexities and contradictions which arise in this situation are revealed. Through the prism of food poverty and food aid, the piece poses a series of questions about rights and entitlement, as well as the political economy of inequality and austerity and the policies implicated in them and seeks to demonstrate that anthropology has a contribution to make in this area.